Watercooler Wednesday WWC154 Judy's "All About Christmas" Challenge

 

The days are starting to get longer although they seem to be flying by just as fast if not faster than a month ago.  I haven't been able to scrounge up much stamping time or Mojo since the New Year but managed to get my card finished for this week's Watercooler Wednesday "All About Christmas" Challenge being hosted by Judy Markowitz.  Nothing like getting an early start on making my Christmas cards for next season!  

How about starting your Christmas stash early too. Make a card or project and link your creation with the InLinkz at the bottom of this challenge.  It's easy!

Here's some details:
          1.-No back-linking to previous posts, your must be a new project.
          2. You must link your project back to our challenge 
          3. You must link directly to your post, not simply your general blog.
          4. Can't be linked to more than 8 challenges including ours.
          5. Have fun!

Oh, and don't forget to  use the link-up below to share your project.  The Linky closes Monday, January 29th at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

Here's My Card:

I've made another fun Twist N' Pop card for this week's challenge.  Hands down this card style is one of my favourite fancy folds, and you'll see many examples of it on my blog.  If you're interested in making one simply click here and check out this post for all the measurements and my working template. 

Outside Details:
One of the things I really like making for these Twist N' Pop cards is the belly band.  The belly band is "the keeper of the gate".  It's what holds back the mystery of these special cards.  Honestly with a good belly band you have absolutely no idea what's going to show up inside the card until it comes off.  What fun!

For that very reason I try to make the belly band extra special.  For this card I wanted the sentiment to be bold so I chose the Special Delivery sentiment from Merry Little Labels.  It's stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink on Whisper White card stock and cut out with the large oval from Stitched Shapes Thinlets.  

For some glitz n' glam I cut out a larger oval from Red Glimmer Paper and mounted that with foam tape behind the sentiment layer.  I added a 3/4" x 4 strip of designer paper on the front of the band and then attached the Special Delivery label with Tear N' Tape to the center front.

The card front itself is very simple and has no embellishment.  I added a 5 1/4" x 4" layer of Whisper White card stock followed by a layer of patterned paper   from "Season of Style" DSP. This paper was around a few seasons ago and I still absolutely love the colourful zig zag pattern.   The chevrons of colour are Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive.  Perfect!

When the belly band comes off it reveals Santa Claus and his pack of reindeer, in all their festive glory. 

Inside Details:
Every Twist N' Pop card I make has an inside story. This one begins with Santa's Reindeer, who're eager and ready to "guide his sled tonight". I stamped the reindeer images with Stampin' Ups! Cookie Cutter Christmas which was carried over from last year. I stamped them with Momento Tuxedo Black ink on Crumb Cake and then fussy cut out all those cute little heads with my detail scissors. If you don't like fussy cutting there's a coordinating builder punch.

Using an oval or other shape as a support when you're grouping images really helps to hold them together, so I cut a 3" oval from Whisper White for these ones. Rudolph's shiny nose was cut from Red Glimmer Paper and I scattered some red sequins about for extra shine. I also added a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Season of Style designer paper to this panel. 

I kept the bottom panel of the card very simple by only adding a 5 1/4 x 4" layer of Whisper White card stock.  I stamped Merry Christmas from Teeny Tiny Sayings in Cherry Cobbler and cut this piece and the Old Olive layer out with the two coordinating dies from the Stitched Sayings Thinlet set.  

Center Panels:
There are four center panels each adding a little bit more to the story and helping to support the greeting.  

The first panel represents the homes waiting for Santa's special delivery and consists of three layers of images.  It starts with a 3 1/4 x 2 1/4" piece of DSP followed by a 2" x 3" piece of Whisper White card stock.  I cut out the sky with the Card Front Builder dies and added a piece of silver shimmer paper behind the Whisper White panel to light up the night sky.  The houses were cut from Basic Black card stock with the Home Town Greeting Edgelit and placed on a slant.  I used the retired Sleigh Ride Edgelits to cut out the final layer of sleigh and horse from Whisper White card stock.  

The second panel is Santa's Suit and is simply constructed from Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black card stocks.  I added a silver glimmer paper square for the belt buckle and some Black Basic Rhinestones for the buttons.  

For the third panel I stamped the Santa Claus image from Cookie Cutter Christmas on a piece of Whisper White Card Stock and cut this panel out with the Pinpoint Rectangles Die. I cut out two more panels from Whisper White and Cherry Cobbler card stock and attached the Santa panel to them before adhering to the DSP.   I stamped and fussy cut a second  Santa image and coloured it with markers and Wink of Stella on the bear, cuffs and hat.

The fourth and final panel has a layer of Old Olive that was embossed with the Holly Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The sentiment "Just for You" is from the Merry Little Labels stamp set and the sprigs of holly were cut out with the Card Front Builder die set. 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Cookie Cutter Christmas, Merry Little Labels, Teeny Tiny Sayings
Card Stock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Old Olive
DSP:  Red and Silver Glimmer Paper, Season of Style (R)
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive
Accessories:  Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Detailed Scissors, Dimensionals, Foam Tape, Tear N' Tape, Black Rhinestones, Wink of Stella, Home Town Greetings Edgelits, Memory Box Pinpoint Rectangles #30065, Holly EF, Stitched Shapes Ovals, Sleigh Ride Edgelits, Card Front Builder Thinlets, Large Oval Punch,

I hope you enjoyed today's Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and that you've had time to check out my template and tutorial on my previous post just click here.. I also hope you've checked out the entries from all the Design Team members at the Watercooler Wednesday challenge as there are so many great ideas and inspiration.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot  

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #141 - Heidi's Masculine "Anything Goes"

Hello stampers!  Hope you've had a good week and been able to set aside a bit of time for stamping.  We've been on a road trip so it's been quite hectic and not a lot of time for creating but I did manage to get my card ready for WWC141 Heidi's Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge this week at the Watercooler.

If you've been following along with my blog posts since this Spring, you'll know that I'm a super big fan of the Twist N' Pop or Pop N' Twist technique and have shared many cards I've made showcasing this design.  I've also shared a tutorial on how I make my cards. 

The Twist N' Pop card is also a huge favourite of my dear husband's.  In fact, I can't count the number of times he's requested me to make one of these cards for our male friends for birthdays or special events.  He really likes it when I make the cards specific to their personal likes or themes.

So,  it will come as "no surprise" when I tell you my challenge card this week is another Twist N' Pop card. But, this masculine Twist N' Pop is a very, very  special one because I made it with lots of love for my hubby's October birthday.  I'm sure you'll figure out what his passion is when you see this card.

Here's My Card: 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Stylized Birthday, On the Green (R), Badges and Banners, High Tide, Gordon the Golfer (Artistic Impressions), Golf Ball (Val Scrap), Happy Birdie (Amuse), and Many Mower (R-09)
Card Stock:Old Olive, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Retired DSP
Ink: Old Olive, Tuxedo Momento Black, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Smokey Slate and Soft Sky.
Accessories:  Patterned Paper Decorative Masks (brick), Paper Trimmer, Detail Scissors, Scallop Circle Punch for Cloud Mask, Best Badge Punch, 
Tom Bow Glue, Sticky Strip.

Details:

1.  My card base is a 41/4" x 11" Old Olive card stock scored at 5 1/2".  

2.  The first layer is a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Chocolate Chip card stock.

3.  The second layer is a piece of Whisper White  measuring 3 7/8" x 5 1/8".  

4. I stamped Gordon the Golfer from AI in black ink on the card face and then stamped a second image on a post it note for a mask.  I fussy cut out the mask and laid it over the original stamped imaged. The mask will remain in place until all the background sponging is completed. 

5. I punched out a mask with the Scallop Punch from scrap card stock to make the clouds.  Beginning at the top left edge of the panel I sponged the top  2/3rds of the card with soft sky ink, twisting and maneuvering the scallop circle to create the cloud effect.  

6.  The black birds were stamped using a bird cluster from the High Tide stamp set.  The grass was stamped using the large grass image from the same stamp set.  Before stamping on the grass sections I sponged the bottom of the card with a mixture of Chocolate Chip and Old Olive inks.

7.  For Gordon's shirt and trousers I stamped his image again on scraps of old Designer Series papers that were in shades of Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.  I cut them out with my detail scissors and adhered them with Tom Bow glue.  I coloured the rest of the image with markers and I highlighted the creases on the shirt and pants to blend them in.

Card Inside:

I have so much fun mixing and matching stamp sets and DSP when I create the inside of these cards.  For the top panel on this card I cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Chocolate Chip card stock and topped it with a 3 7/8" x 3" piece of  long retired Old Olive and White Christmas paper that worked perfectly.

The four accordion panels each have a 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" panel of Chocolate Chip Card Stock and a 2" x 3" panel of Whisper White.  

1.  The first panel is stamped with the golfer from a 2009 Stampin' Up! set called "And Many Mower".  I simply couldn't part with this one, and it was  a "par-fect" start to the panel.  I used the scalloped circle mask to sponge in the sky, stamped the image in  Momento Tuxedo black ink and coloured the image with Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Smokey Slate markers.  

2.  For the second panel I sponged the brick stencil from the Patterned Papers Decorative Masks with Chocolate Chip ink.  The badge was stamped in Old Olive ink on a scrap of Whisper White and cut out with the Best Badge Punch.  I punched a second badge from Old Olive and glued it to the back of the first badge and attached it with Dimensionals to the brick background.

3.  The third panel has a great golf themed image from another retired Stampin' Up! set called On the Green.  This was one of the first single stamps sold by Stampin' Up!   I simply stamped this image in Chocolate Chip.  I sponged the edges of all the white panels with Chocolate Chip before mounting them.  

4.  The final panel has the sky and green background sponged in as before and the Golf Ball image is stamped in black ink.  I added the sentiment "happy birdie to you" also in black ink.

5. For the bottom I cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Chocolate Chip card stock and topped it with a 3 7/8" x 3" piece of  Whisper White card stock that had been sponged with Chocolate Chip around the edges.  I stamped the sentiment "Happy Birthday" in Chocolate Chip using the Stylized Birthday stamp.  

And that's all there was to making this card.  My hubby the golfer absolutely loved it.  I hope you enjoyed it to.  

If you'd like to join us for this week's Watercooler Wednesday challenge it's easy, just add your link to our Linsky on the WWC homepage before 5:00 MST on Monday October 23rd.  We'd love to have you join us! 

Watercooler Wednesday #124 - Fiona's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Well we managed to make it through another soggy weekend here in Abbotsford.  I'm starting to grow webs between my toes.  Too bad it wasn't nicer for Father's Day on Sunday.  It poured most of the day and I know a lot of BBQ's and camping trips were rained out.   Sigh......

This week's challenge at the Watercooler Wednesday is a "Masculine Anything Goes" theme hosted by Fiona.  This challenge will run from June 21st until Monday June 26th at 10:00MT.   I hope you'll join our Design Team (DT) and share a masculine card or project.  We'd love to have you join us this week.

Here's My Card:

This is another Twist N' Pop card made with love for my youngest brother who turns 58 on July 4th. He's an outdoorsy kind of guy who loves nature and fishing, so I thought he'd appreciate this birthday card. Oh and I added images from one of my favourite stamp sets "Bear Hugs" because we've had a bear lurking around in the woods behind our house for the past week. Hopefully he'll keep on trekking down to the river and out into the Valley, so I can get out for a walk soon.

I wanted to send a gift card with this birthday wish so I added a 4" x 2 1/2" piece of basic black card stock for a gift card holder in the top of this card.  I punched a half circle with a 1" circle punch in the center of the card to make for easier access for the gift card.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Bear Hugs, Thoughtful Branches, and Balloon Adventures
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black for images and sentiments.  Early Espresso and Soft Suede for bears.  Dapper Denim, Tranquil Tide, Watermelon Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky and So Saffron for background scenes and fish.
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper (DSP): Warmth and Cheer (R) - Clearance Rack 
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Bear Hugs and Ovals Thinlits, Acrylic Blocks, Wink of Stella, Aqua Painter, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip or Tear N' Tape, Tom Bow Glue. 

The fish, baby bear and sentiments are all from the now retired Bear Hugs stamp set.   Definitely this is one of my favourite stamp sets.  So cute!

Sentiment is from Balloon Adventures.

How It's Made:
My instructions are for this specific card, however they can be adapted for any Twist N' Pop card layout.  I'm a very visual person and while I watched a lot of videos on how this card was made, it didn't come easy for me until I made a paper template I could follow.  I cut my original template from plain white card stock and included all the measurements and placements for the Tear N' Tape placement and score lines. This works for me and I hope it will work for you too. Okay so here we go:

This Twist N' Pop card starts with two 8 1/2" x 11 sheets of Crumb Cake card stock.  

• From the long side of the first sheet cut:
• 4 1/4" x 11" card base scored at 5 1/2".  Mark a dot at the center of the score line for positioning the Hinge piece.
• 10" x 3 1/2" panel scored at 2 1/2, 5 and 7 1/2" for the Picture panel. Fold along score lines and burnish with bone folder. Your piece should have a valley, mountain and valley fold when it's facing upright.  To decorate the picture panels cut the following:
• 4 pieces of Basic Black card stock 3 1/4" x 2 1/4" - one for each panel
• 4 pieces of  Very Vanilla card stock 3" x 2" one for each panel.  The two center panels will be stamped with images and/or sentiments, so are left plain.  Do your stamping before adhering.
• 2 pieces of DSP 2 7/8" x 3 7/8" for the two outer panels. 
• Once the above layers have been adhered with Tom Bow Glue, flip this picture panel over and put two strips of Tear N' Tape in the top right hand corner of the first panel and on the bottom inside left of the last panel. 
• Cut a 3/4" x 10" piece for belly band and score it at 2" and 6 3/8" (Note:  you may have to adjust scoring for the belly band dependent on the thickness of the finished card - so don't score until you're finished).

• From the second sheet create the Hinge Panel:
• On short side of 8 1/2" x 11 card stock cut an 8" x 3 1/2" piece and score it on the long side at 1 3/4". 
• On all four sides measure down 2 1/4" and mark with a pencil. Make sure these measurements are exact or your hinge won't work properly.
• Use your score bar on your paper trimmer to make the X in the center of this piece.  Start from the right side and score a line from the 2 1/4" mark to the corresponding mark on the left hand side. Make sure both marks are sitting in the well of the trimmer before scoring.
• Repeat this score line but this time go from left to right. Your scored lines should have formed a perfect X in the center of the hinge panel.
• Fold on the 1 3/4" score line and burnish with your bone folder.  Next fold in on the diagonal lines making sure they line up and once you're satisfied burnish with your bone folder.  You should now have a piece that looks like a house.  Put two strips of Tear N' Tape on the triangular part of the house peak on both sides.  
• Remove the Tear N' Tape on both sides of the peak.  Carefully line up the peak of the house against the mark you made on the score line of the card base.  Before pressing down make sure the hinge is even on both sides and precisely in the middle with the tip of the peak touching the score line.
• Close the card base and press down.  Your hinge should now be securely mounted to the inside of your card base. When you open the card base it should open fully. 

• Adding the panel to the hinge:
• Open the card base so the hinged piece is lying flat.  Make a small pencil mark so it shows above the score line to help you with placement of the picture panel.
• Remove the sticky strips from the picture panel and with the decorated side of the picture panel facing upwards center the mountain fold of the panel against the mark made on the card base. Make sure the top edge of the picture panel is not only lined up with the center of the card, but it is also sitting against the top and bottom edges of the hinge piece.
• When you've got it exactly in the middle and you've lined up everything just press down the sides of the picture panel and they will adhere to the hinge.   Now close the card.  If you've done everything correctly the picture panel and hinge will magically close.  You may have to do it a couple of times to make it move fluidly.   

My Template: 

I'm sharing the drawn out template with you as well as pictures of my actual cut out template pieces.  For easy reference I store the cut out template pieces in a clear envelope so it's handy every time I make this fancy fold card.  Enjoy. 

The measuring/cutting dimensions for the card base, picture panel and belly band of my Twist N' Pop card.

This is the back side of the Picture Panel template and shows wear the Tear N' Tape is placed. 

This diagram shows the cutting and scoring lines for the Hinge Panel as well as the placement of the Tear N' Tape, when the hinge has been folded.  The red dashed line is not a score line in this picture.  You'll see in the cut template pictures below that the two sides of the house are actually split in the center and if scored and folded properly should line up side by side. 

These are my template diagram pieces all cut out.  It makes it easier for me to use as a teaching tool and to jog my memory on placement if I haven't made this fancy fold card for a while. 

This picture shows the reverse side of the picture panel and the right side of the Hinged Panel when it's folded and the placement of the Tear N' Tape.  Don't use too much tape and make sure you've got it placed properly or the Hinge and Picture Panels will not work together.

Here you see the folded hinge panel being placed against the center mark on the inside of the card base.  If I was doing this for real, I would have removed the Tear N' Tape strips from both sides of this panel.  Once I've made sure this hinged piece is lined up evenly on both sides and with the center mark then simply close the card and press down to make sure the adhesive on the both sides of the peak adheres to the card base. 

Once you've adhered the hinged piece and you open the card base it will look like this.  Bear in mind that my sample isn't glued down so it looks bulgy in the center.

Take the picture panel and I fold the two outer panels inward and then set up this panel over top of the "now" adhered hinge panel and line up with the center of the card base. You can see the Tear N' Tape is facing towards the outside on both the top and bottom of the Picture panel.

Once I had it lined up properly in the last photo I removed those strips of Tear N' Tape and simply open both sides of the Picture Panel and press down.  The Tear N' Tape will adhere to the Hinged Panel and Voila you have a Twist N' Pop card.

Well that's it for today Stampers.  I hope you've enjoyed my card and my little tutorial and it was easy to follow.  I'd like to have your feedback if you plan to use my instructions and how they work out for you.  Trust me once it's all cut out and you play with it a bit you'll find it's one of the simplest cards to make.  The main thing is remembering to mark everything for placement and be precise with it.  It's a pain, I know but remember the old carpenter's saying..... "measure twice cut once", as it really applies with this card and will save you from wasting both time and materials. 

If you've come directly here and haven't checked out the other Watercooler Wednesday design team's masculine cards make sure you do, as you're in for a treat.  And remember this challenge is open until June 26th.  We'd love to have you join in.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stamping Spot